World Series by Renault news

Bonanomi sets the tempo

For the second time this season, Formula Renault 3.5 teams met up today to move forward with the job of getting the best out of their new package. Italian Marco Bonanomi (Red Devil Comtec) was to snatch the best time just before the end of the session, ahead of Marco Barba (Draco Racing) and Robert Wickens (Carlin Motorsport). Testing will proceed tomorrow and Thursday at the Barcelona circuit.

Conditions were ideal for this second wave of collective testing in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. For the first time this season, all 13 teams signed up for the competition had both single-seaters out on track. So for some teams the day began with what was effectively a running-in session. Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature) got off to an inauspicious start, with a badly tightened oil coupling causing his car to catch fire. The Brazilian was however able to get back on track again at the end of the day.

Giedo van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) was the first driver out , though the first significant lap times were a while coming. For the first hour, the name at the top of the standings changed with alarming regularity. Eventually Alvaro Barba (Prema Powerteam) took charge of the situation, with Marco Bonanomi, Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam), Giedo van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) and Robert Wickens in pursuit. Lapping on 1'35''858, Van der Garde took over the lead.

As we so often see, everything was to change in the last hour. Van der Garde wrested the leadership once again with a 1'35''229 lap. Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing) moved into second place and Russian driver Daniil Move (KTR) took over in third ahead of Alvaro Barba and Pablo Sanchez (Interwetten.com).

Lap times were considerably bettered in the course of the afternoon session. Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport) was the first to oust Van der Garde from the top spot. But as in the morning, it was the same drivers that stood out: Wickens, Van der Garde and Bonanomi. Belgian Bertrand Baguette (Draco Racing) and his teammate Marco Barba, Alvaro's brother, also muscled their way up into the fight.

Shortly before the final assault of the last hour, Marco Barba grabbed the best provisional time, with 1'33''745. Only to see Marco Bonanomi then take the best time of the day, in 1'33''478. "It's really important to get into a good rhythm. I have good feelings with this car, even if I'm not yet completely at ease with the brakes. We should be quicker tomorrow, but I can only take part in the morning session, as I have to head off to compete in the last GP2 Asia race in Dubai. The main thing is to be ready for Monza."

Runner up Marco Barba is also pleased to be up in the leading pack. "The behaviour of the car is very good. It's good to be on the pace today, very encouraging for the season ahead". Third place went to Robert Wickens ahead of Bertrand Baguette and Pablo Sanchez.

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